L4M6 Supplier Relationships Questions and Answers

Explanation

ABC / Pareto is a "Portfolio Analysis Technique to assess the relationships in a supply chain". This, along with the Kraljic Matrix are two examples of "Supplier Positioning Models". See chapter 2.1 p.17 for more details on this

Explanation

Value for money is not a principle of EU procurement. The four key principles are; transparency, non-discrimination, proportionality and equality of treatment. The principles are basically about ensuring the procurement process is fair. See p.75

Explanation

CPV codes help suppliers find opportunities they can bid for. CPV codes are a numerical classification for products e.g. Strawberry Jam is 15332296 and when they are included on a Tender, any supplier who is registered with that same CPV code will get a notification that the tender is live. CPV codes are discussed on p.72 but not in much detail- so don’t worry if you don’t know much about them. So long as you know the above, you’ll be fine.

Explanation

Partnerships require the most investment out of those listed. The only relationship type that requires more investment than Partnerships is Co-Destiny. See p.9 for more information on this

Explanation

The correct answers are; The marketplace has become more volatile, Working together will create synergies and The need to improve performance to satisfy the end customer. Further Drivers of Partnership Sourcing can be found on p.127. The other answers are incorrect as entering a partnership won’t protect intellectual property rights- in fact that’s one of the big risks of entering into a partnership. Partnerships won’t increase costs and lead-times, they’re likely to decrease them.

Explanation

As the component is vital to their business, ABC should seek a collaborative relationship with the supplier. There are three types of collaborative relationship (co-destiny, partnership and strategic alliance). Of these only strategic-alliance is given as an option. Remember - strategic purchase = collaborative relationship with supplier. There are many questions on the Relationship Spectrum on the exam. See p.5 for more details

Explanation

The logistics risk can be reduced by ‘Sharing up-to-date information’. If the Pub tells the supplier when it’s running low, they can then time the deliveries more accurately. P. 136. A lot of the questions on the ‘Partnerships’ chapters of the book are common-sense questions like this. It involves reading the question and using logic, rather than relying on your knowledge of procurement. If you found this question easy – that’s a good sign for the exam.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘Conduct regular audits’. This is explained on p.153. You wouldn’t do an appraisal on a supplier in a partnership relationship as both parties are equal. Threatening a partner isn’t good for the relationship and a damages clause would be used in a contractual relationship rather than a partnership.

Explanation

Tim should do an audit. P.71 of the textbook says “to ensure that a procurement department is achieving value for money, an audit should be undertaken”

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘Yes- the Public Sector is regulated by EU procurement regulations which prohibits this’. This is stated on p.122. Please note that this study guide and exam were written before Brexit. Once Brexit happens, nobody knows what will happen with this.

Explanation

Value for money in the private sector is about achieving shareholder profit and busines benefit (p.66). In the public sector it is about ensuring taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. Value for money is a mixture of price and quality.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘The product is easy to source elsewhere’. The other three are given as reasons a marketplace might be restricted on p.138. Other reasons also include; brand loyalty, difficult access to distribution channels, and companies colluding.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘Yes- joint innovation projects are often a strong motivation for entering into a partnership’. The other options are simply not true statements. A lot of the questions on the ‘Partnerships’ chapters of the book are common-sense questions like this. It involves reading the QUESTION NO: and using logic, rather that relying on your knowledge of procurement. If you found this QUESTION NO: easy – that’s a good sign for the exam.

Explanation

This is 'cost focus' - Kinky Boots is both focusing on being a cost leaser (by providing the cheapest products) and focusing on a niche market (drag queens). When these two strategies are combined it is called 'cost focus'. There's a couple of questions on Porter's Generic Strategies in the exam- there's a useful diagram of this on P.13

Explanation

The portable CD player has been replaced with a substitute product. This threat wasn't considered by the company and this resulted in poor sales. There are many questions in the exam on Porter's 5 Forces - see p. 39

Explanation

This is a leverage supplier on the Kraljic Matrix; high cost impact and low risk impact. The diagram on p.20 gives the example of utility services such as electricity as a common leverage supplier. There are lots of questions on Kraljic in the exam - do revise this topic and ensure you understand each of the four quadrants of the matrix

Explanation

Carter's 10 Cs are a way to qualify (aka shortlist) a supplier. See p.11 for more details on this and p.10 for the stages of the relationship cycle.

Explanation

The three Es are; Effectiveness, Efficiency and Economy. Sometimes a 4th E is added which is Equity (but this is mainly for the public sector).

Explanation

This is a threat of a new entrant. The competitor has now entered the washing machine market and is competing directly with you. This is not a threat of substitution as it is the same product. A substitution would be if they invented a new product that washed clothes and people started buying this instead of washing machines. There are many questions in the exam on Porter's 5 Forces - see p. 39

Explanation

This is an example of poor-communication. The information was not passed from the person who signed the contract to the staff on site who were to do the cleaning. See p.158 on communication issues.

Explanation

The correct answer is Measurable, achievable and time-bound. This is from SMART KPIs on p. 151. Smart stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. In the exam they come up in different orders so be careful.

Explanation

This is one of those questions you have to read carefully- it asks for 'elements of a business'. Cost focus and cost leadership are ways a company can improve their competitive advantage, but they're not elements of a business. The other three options are. Porter created a list of elements of a business that can help a company's competitive advantage- these can be found on p.33-34

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘No- a reverse e-auction would be more suitable as it will secure the lowest price’. An E-auction is something like eBay- where bids go up in price. If David wants to secure a lower price, he should use a Reverse E-Auction- where suppliers bid lower than the previous bid in order to win. For example, Supplier 1 offers to fulfil the contract at £50k per year, Supplier 2 can offer to beat this price by bidding £48k per year. Although Reverse E-Auctions may ensure cheaper prices, there are a lot of disadvantages to using this method. See p.21 and p.76 for more information

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘reduced product life-cycles’. In this example the reason for entering a partnership is to be able to produce new models of phones more quickly- this is likely because consumers are wanting to change mobile phones more often than they did in the past, so in order to keep up with demand, Phone Maker Incorporated need to produce more phones, more quickly. Drivers of Partnership Sourcing is a key topic in the exam – you can revise these by looking at p.127 in the Study Guide

Explanation

In a monopoly there is only one supplier- therefore their power is strong. Buyers in this market are price takers and their power is weak. There is generally a strong barrier to entry into a monopoly market so the threat of new entrants is low. There is no rivalry. There are many questions in the exam on Porter's 5 Forces - see p. 39

Explanation

The correct answer is Measurable, achievable and relevant. This is from SMART KPIs on p. 151. Smart stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. In the exam they come up in different orders so be careful.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘Yes- partnership sourcing can improve performance which will ultimately satisfy the end customer’. The important thing to note in this QUESTION NO: is the word ‘monopolistic’. This means that there are no alternative suppliers- so the ‘no’ options are wrong- there are no alternative suppliers and no opportunity to outsource. The other answer is incorrect as sales figures isn’t Andrew’s concern – it’s the complaints and quality of the product. Improving performance to satisfy end customers is therefore his main driver for considering a Partnership. See p. 127 for more information on Drivers of Partnership Sourcing. This comes up a lot in the exam

Explanation

Designing the specification is not a stage in the relationship cycle- this would be done before the relationship begins. There are 6 stages of the relationship cycle; on-boarding, qualification, segmentation and risk management, performance management, development and innovation, phase out. P.13

Explanation

Danny should issue a RFI (Request for Information). His next step would be to find out more about the products available by asking suppliers for information- this will help him put a spec together before he goes out to tender. The other options mean; RFQ - request for quotation- when you ask suppliers to submit a price. ITT- Invitation to tender – a document you send out to suppliers which details all the information about the tender (this usually involves both price and quality components of assessment). OJEU- Official Journal of the European Union- where tenders for the Public Sector are published. For more info on RFI see p.74

Explanation

A PIN is a ‘prior information notice’ – it is sent out before the ITT to let suppliers know that an opportunity is coming up and they should look out for it. See p 72 “supplier identification- public sector” for more details.

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘They are hard to measure’ p.103

Explanation

The correct answer is ‘run a restricted competition – send out a PQQ’. This QUESTION NO: tests both your understanding of when to run open and restricted competitions (which is explained on p.75) and your understanding of tender documents. Mandy should run a restricted competition- there are a lot of options in the marketplace and this will allow her to pre-qualify those who best suit her requirements. Running an open competition when there are lots of suppliers would be too time-consuming- you need a way of making a short-list. When you run a restricted competition, the first stage is sending out a PQQ- pre-qualification questionnaire; this document is sent to suppliers asking for necessary information to support their qualification as an approved supplier.

Explanation

Friendly Flour Ltd is a strategic supplier; this is a critical supplier, responsible for core products. They represent a high risk impact and a high cost impact. This is the top-right hand corner of the Kraljic matrix. There are lots of questions on Kraljic in the exam - do revise this topic and ensure you understand each of the four quadrants of the matrix (see p.20)